Project description:The scyphozoan jellyfish Cyanea capillata are common blooming species in China.The venomous characteristics of jellyfish Cyanea capillata is largely attributed to their complex and elaborate venom delivery system: the stinging cells, or nematocytes. These specialized cells synthesize and secrete unique intracellular organelles called nematocysts. Nematocysts with heterogeneous sizes and morphologies may contain different toxic components that exert diverse pharmacological and physiological activities such as hemolysis, cytolysis and proteolysis for defense and prey capture. We modified the previous method of nematocyst preparation using density centrifugation to purify undischarged nematocysts from jellyfish Cyanea capillata tentacles. Ultimately, mastigophore-type nematocysts were successfully purified.Then we used purified nematocysts for proteomic study to identify sting-related toxins in Cyanea capillata nematocysts.
